


Now that's a true piece of art!

by NoLifeAtAll



Series: Splatoon human AU Things [1]
Category: Splatoon
Genre: F/F, Human AU, M4rie referenced at the end, Pearl and Marina run a radio program, Snuck in a lil sadness as always, University AU, but lasts literally no time cos hell if i'm keeping the gays apart, very gay
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-28
Updated: 2019-01-28
Packaged: 2019-10-18 10:27:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,480
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17579132
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NoLifeAtAll/pseuds/NoLifeAtAll
Summary: There's an art exhibit this weekend and Pearl wants to ask Marina out on a date.Rated G for Gay cos it's pretty much the only stuff i write anymore!





	Now that's a true piece of art!

“To finish off, we have some exciting news to share!”

 

Pearl perked up slightly in her seat, eying her co-host curiously. “Really?” she drawled skeptically. “I thought nothing exciting happened around here.”

 

Across the table, Marina smirked teasingly at her with a raised eyebrow. “You wouldn’t know excitement if it hit you in the face,” she pointed out though she kept her tone light and cheerful.

 

Pearl snorted loudly, putting a hand over heart and dramatically fell back in her chair. “Mar you insult me,” she argued, leaning one arm on the table. “I’m the queen of excitement.”

 

“Oh yeah?” Marina leaned forward to meet her gaze. “What exciting stuff have you done, short stuff?”

 

“Well, uh, I…”

 

Marina smiled smugly at her. “Told you.”

 

Pearl glared at her from across the table, leaning back in her chair. “Alright, alright, what’s this exciting news then?”

 

Marina snapped back to the radio program at the reminder. “Oh right, yes,” she mumbled, getting slightly flustered as she hurriedly picked up a piece of paper. “This weekend the Museum D’Alfonsino is opening up a new art exhibit. The exhibit will be open for about 3 months so make sure to find time to visit during that time.”

 

Pearl lifted an eyebrow curiously. “An art exhibit, huh?” she mused. “What’s it displaying, Mar?”

 

Her co-host paused to read the paper. “Says here that the art department are trying something new and starting up yearly exhibits of art done by the students,” she explained cheerfully. “The museum d’alfonsino say ‘they’re very happy to be able to show the world art done by budding young artists.’ Sounds interesting, right Pearlie?”

 

“Yeah, if you say so,” Pearl agreed halfheartedly only half concentrating on what she was saying.

 

“To all of you romantics out there listening in, maybe invite them out to the art exhibit,” Marina suggested jokingly into the microphone.

 

It took all of Pearl’s willpower to stop herself from choking slightly in surprise, unwilling to make a spectacle of herself. Instead she simply chuckled quietly to herself. “Yeah possibly,” she joked back though she couldn’t deny the suggestion was tempting.

 

“Well, that about wraps up our show for today!” Marina chirped brightly, beginning to clear up the desk in front of her. “We wish you all have a good day here at the Inkopolis University.”

 

“Until next time,” Pearl started, reciting words she knew off by heart now.

 

“Don’t get cooked, stay off the hook!” the two said in unison just before the mics switched off, indicating the program was over for today.

 

* * *

 

 

No sooner had they stepped out of the building, Marina pulled her into a crushing hug squealing in excitement. At first, Pearl audibly protested and tried to squirm out of the embrace but eventually gave up trying.

 

There was no escaping from Marina’s hugs.

 

Eventually the taller girl pulled out of the hug to grin at her. Pearl eyed her curiously. “What’s got you so excited?”

 

Marina blushed slightly, grin morphing into a rather sheepish smile instead. “I don’t know,” she admitted. “I just thought we did really well today and had the sudden urge to hug you...”

 

That was a little odd. Marina was usually good at controlling herself with things like urges and temptations. Well, she was compared to Pearl (who had no self-control in the slightest).

 

Pearl chose to not make a fuss over it as she knew they’d get flustered over it. She simply shrugged her shoulders and lightly punched her friend’s arm. “Don’t worry about it Marmar,” she assured confidently. “It’s no big deal. We did rock that show today after all.”

 

Marina laughed and rubbed her arm lightly. “We did,” she agreed wholeheartedly. She was positively beaming with joy as she began to walk away from her towards the parking lot. Pearl watched as she paused to look back at her. “Want a ride home?”

 

Pearl rolled her eyes. “Mar, I’ll be fine,” she reasoned calmly, stuffing her hands in her hoodie as she began to walk away from the building. “Really, I can walk home.”

 

Marina huffed stubbornly and crossed her arms. “I can give you a lift on my bike, it’s no big deal,” she insisted. “Your place isn’t far off the route i usually take home.”

 

“I don’t want to be any trouble…”

 

“It won’t be any trouble,” Marina groaned, stalking over and began to gently pull her along. “Come onn Pearlie.”

 

Pearl felt her cheeks burn slightly as they turned pink. Unable to argue against her anymore, she allowed Marina to pull her towards the parking lot.

 

* * *

 

 

“I want to ask Marina out to the art exhibit this weekend.”

 

The reactions of her two companions were rather different, one much louder and vocal in their excitement than the other. Callie practically leaped out of her chair in her enthusiasm, squealing loudly. Beside her, Marie flinched and audibly protested against her cousin’s volume, pulling her back down by their shoulder.

 

“Took you about time,” Marie commented as calm and collected as always. “What prompted the decision?”

 

Pearl shrugged and looked away awkwardly. Callie and Marie were old friends of hers; they had grown up in the same town and gone to the same school and now the same university. All three of them were studying music though Callie and Marie were a year ahead in their course.

 

“Just thought it’s a good opportunity, that’s all,” she mumbled shyly, hiding her face quickly in the cup of coffee in her hands. Callie and Marie were the only ones who she had told about her crush on Marina. She had invited them out to a coffee shop in order to get advice on asking her out.

 

Marie thought over the idea for a second, taking a sip of some green tea as if it would boost her thought power. “Sounds like a plan,” she agreed eventually as she placed her mug down on the table. “What’s the plan on asking her out?”

 

“That’s why I came to you guys,” Pearl admitted. “I need you guys to help me as I have no ideas!”

 

Callie squealed loudly again drawing dirty looks from other people. She blushed and mumbled a quick apology before focusing on Pearl once more. “You’ll need to make it romantic,” she instructed quickly. “Big gestures, flowers and all that!”

 

Marie was quick to cut in before her cousin could get carried away. “You...don’t need all that,” she reassured Pearl noticing the terrified expression on her face. “Just simply asking at a good opportunity will be enough.”

Pearl calmed down considerably at that suggestion. “Yeah that sounds better.”

 

“Marina seems like the kind of girl to appreciate smaller gestures,” Marie thought out loud. “She’s crazy enough about you already.”

 

Pearl choked slightly at Marie’s words which was a bit of a problem as she was in the middle of drinking coffee. Hot liquid went all over the table earning even more dirty looks from customers and staff alike. A barista was quick to walk over with a cloth to clean up the mess. Pearl was sure her face looked like a tomato with how much she was blushing.

 

As the barista left, she reluctantly met the eyes of her friends. Marie was watching her with equal amusement and pity.

 

Pearl cleared her throat, determined to recover the situation somehow. “Marina isn’t crazy over me,” she stated bluntly. “There’s no way.”

 

Callie and Marie shared a knowing look and looked back at her. Marie was the first to talk. “Have you seen the way she looks at you?” she asked calmly and confidently. “She looks at you as if you’re her entire world. To Marina, you’re the best thing that’s ever happened to her.”

 

Pearl’s cheeks warmed slightly at the statement. “She doesn’t…”

 

“Oh, and have you heard how she talks about you?” Callie piped in eagerly. “She talks about you all the time! It’s always ‘that reminds me of this one time pearlie’ this or ‘did you know pearl did’ that.”

 

Pearl was left unable to speak. She could feel her heart begin to race at the possibility Marina liking her back.

 

“Just go for it Pearl,” Marie sighed. “You’ve got nothing to lose by at least asking.”

 

“But what if-”

 

“No ‘what if’s,” her friend butted in. “It won’t make Marina hate you, there’s no reason not to ask!”

 

“But…”

 

“No buts!”

 

“...Alright, so what do I do?” Pearl conceded with a huff, leaning back in her seat and staring at the ceiling.

 

“Look for a moment when you’re alone or even go over to her place if all else fails,” Marie advised. “Then just ask.”

 

* * *

 

 

“Don’t get cooked, stay off the hook!”

 

As soon as the familiar ending words were spoken, the process of clearing up to prepare fotr the next people began. Pearl leaned back in her seat muling over her conversation with Callie and Marie yesterday. Marina made idle conversation with the workers here at the studios as she helped them set up for the next program. It wasn’t required of her but Pearl knew that machines and technology were one of the great loves of Marina’s life.

 

“Are you ok, Pearlie?”

 

Pearl snapped out of her thoughts at the question, forcing an easygoing smile. “Of course, why wouldn’t I be?” she assured her, forcing down her internal panic.

 

“Are you sure? You’ve been acting strangely today,” her friend worried, not quite believing her.

 

“Strangely? What do you mean by strangely?” Pearl deflected quickly. “Mar, I’m _fine_ I promise.”

 

Marina sighed and leaned over, placing a hand over hers. “Pearlie if you want to say something you can just tell me,” she assured her sweetly. “We’re friends, right?”

 

“Of course we’re friends!” Pearl reassured her quickly, trying her best to control her breathing at the contact. “I promise you I’m absolutely fine.”

 

“Are you?”

 

“Yes, I am!” Pearl yelled suddenly. “I’m fine, alright? God!”

 

Marina flinched and stared at her with wide eyes shining with unshed tears. “Alright, I’m sorry, I’ll just, uh,” she mumbled weakly, fumbling around to grab her bag as she stood up as quickly as she could. “I’ll just go.”

 

Pearl felt the pang of regret grow to becoming overwhelming. “Marina, wait, I didn’t mean to...”

 

She could only watch as her friend left in a rush without looking back.

* * *

 

 

“Well, you could have handled that better.”

 

Pearl groaned loudly as she flopped down onto her sofa, burying her head in a cushion. Why did she have to act so awkwardly today? It was now pretty damn obvious to Marina that something was up. She messed that up so _so_ badly. She had wanted to ask her but panicked as Marina continued asking questions.

 

She lost her temper.

 

She pushed the most important person in her life away.

 

“What do i do now?” she mumbled to herself. “I need to fix this…”

 

But how would she do that? The next show wasn’t for another 2 days and she couldn’t wait for then. The show would be awkward and unpleasant and it was just too long for comfort. No, she had to fix it as soon as possible.

 

Pearl thought back to her conversation with Marie at the coffee shop. Her suggestion was wait for time alone or go to her place. True, it was about asking but…

 

_Why not knock out 2 birds with one stone_?

 

She almost leaped off of the sofa in her scramble to get out of the apartment. It was better to fix this now. The longer she waited the harder it would become.

* * *

 

 

The wait for Marina to open the door after knocking was almost unbearable.

 

Pearl forced her nerves down as she waited. It wouldn’t do her any good if she was a nervous wreck when trying to apologise. Panicking is what got her into this mess.

 

She was brought out of her thoughts by the door opening. She looked up to see Marina looking down at her with equal parts surprise and annoyance.

 

“Uh, hi,” Pearl mumbled quietly, smiling nervously.

 

“Why are you here, Pearlie?” Marina asked bluntly, stepping aside to allow her inside anyway. Shuffling past her, Pearl felt her heart beat faster and hairs stand on end. Despite trying to suppress it, she felt the panic and nerves return.

 

“I...wanted to come see how you were doing,” Pearl explained quickly as she sat down on one of the sofas. Marina hummed unhappily, giving a rather unimpressed look as she sat opposite her. “...And to apologise for earlier.”

 

At that, Marina’s attitude changed. She visibly relaxed and raised an eyebrow curiously as she watched her. “Is that so?”

 

“Yeah...I, um,” Pearl breathed in deeply to calm herself. “I’m sorry Marina for...all that. I didn’t mean to lose my temper and yell at you. I didn’t mean to make you so concerned about me.”

 

“I’m always concerned about you,” Marina interrupted quietly, blushing slightly.

 

Pearl blushed as well and forgot what she was about to say. Marina noticed and giggled at the speechless girl lightly. Rather than get insulted, Pearl laughed along with her feeling the tension melt away.

 

“You know what I mean Mar,” she continued. “I didn’t mean to make you think there was anything terribly wrong or something like that. I’m sorry.”

 

Marina sighed lightly and moved to sit next to her. She pulled the shorter girl into a hug leaning her head on her shoulder. “It’s alright Pearlie,” she whispered into her ear comfortingly.

 

Pearl didn’t even try to control her pulse this time. It was going absolutely wild and she was sure marina would notice soon as a finger was barely brushing her neck. A shiver ran down her spine.

 

As if on cue, her friend giggled and pulled away. “You’ve gone really warm Pearlie,” she chuckled. “Your face is like a tomato!”

 

Pearl blushed even harder. “Y-yeah…”

 

“What’s got you all flustered?” Her friend teased playfully, poking her cheek lightly with a rather pointy fingernail. “It’s unlike you!”

 

“I,uh…” Pearl floundered, trying to keep herself calm. Her pulse and breathing were going crazy and her face felt like it was on fire.

 

Marina frowned and placed her hands on her face. “Pearlie, you’re burning up.” she began to fuss over her, doing a quick checkover to make sure she wasn’t hurt or anything. “You look fine but you’ve gotten so hot…”

 

Pearl exhaled deeply in resignation. The easiest way to stop her friend’s worrying would be to just tell her. “Relax Mar, I’m fine,” she reassured them quickly, grabbing hold of her hands in hers. “It’s not an illness or anything like that.”

 

“But…”

“Mar, just let me finish would you?” Pearl joked lightheartedly. She watched Marina laugh slightly before agreeing. She sighed. “Look, for about a...wait how long has it been? A year? A few months?” She paused to think over it before realising she needed to finish what she was saying first. “It doesn’t matter. The point is for a long time now - so long I’ve forgotten just how long - I’ve...developed a bit of a crush on you.” She paused to chuckle to herself. “Well, a big crush in fact. It may be more than just a crush now, I don’t know anymore…”

 

Marina burst into a peal of slightly nervous laughter, interrupting her rambling. Maybe it was her hopeful imagination but Pearl could swear she heard a bit of relief in her laughter.

 

Pearl opened her mouth to continue but was interrupted by Marina practically throwing herself onto her into a hug and beginning to smother her face with kisses. She couldn’t help but squeak slightly in surprise but couldn’t bring herself to move away from the affection.

 

She really quite enjoyed it actually.

 

Eventually Marina leaned back enough to look at her face properly. She was grinning from ear to ear, eyes shining with tears she was just barely holding back. Pearl realised quickly that they were tears of happiness this time around.

 

“You have no idea how much I’ve been hoping you would say that,” she hummed contently, moving a hand onto her cheek.

 

Pearl smiled goofily and leaned into her hand, feeling the thumb begin to idly stroke her cheek. She heard Marina giggle slightly but made no move to remove her hand. “I guess Marie was right,” she muttered quietly to herself.

 

“Marie was right about what?” Marina tilted her head inquisitively.

 

“Oh, nothing,” Pearl mumbled burying her face in Marina’s shoulder to hide her blush.

 

“Oh no you don’T,” Marina tutted, gently pulling her friend away slightly. “No hiding from me. What was Marie right about?”

 

“The other day I went to Callie and Marie for advice,” Pearl explained suddenly feeling like she wanted to hide.

 

“Advice about what?”

 

“I’m getting to that just give me a second,” Pearl teased. She poked her friend’s nose gently before continuing. “I knew I wanted to tell you soon and maybe ask you out but had no idea how. So I went to them for advice.”

 

“What was the advice?” Marina continued to ask questions as she always did whenever she didn’t know something.

 

“To wait for some time alone with you,” Pearl answered quietly. “I had wanted to do it earlier but I panicked and…”

 

Marina’s face flushed and shook her head. “I shouldn’t have kept bugging you,” she muttered sadly. “It was my fault.”

 

“No, no, it wasn’t,” Pearl comforted quickly. “It was mine. I shouldn’t have kept deflecting your questions, I should have been honest. It wasn’t your fault at all!”

 

Marina seemed to reluctantly accept that and motioned for her to continue.

 

“Anyway, her second tip was if all else fails to come to you,” Pearl finished explaining. “Which is what I’ve done and it seems to have worked.”

 

“I’m glad you came,” Marina hummed before kissing her cheek affectionately. A thought seemed to come to her suddenly and quirked an eyebrow. “Wait...you wanted to ask me out?”

 

“Uh....yeah, I wanted to ask you out to the art exhibit this weekend,” Pearl admitted sheepishly.

 

There was a pause as Marina processed what she said. The silence was broken by Pearl yelping in surprise when Marina leaped at her again and smothering her face with kisses once more. Pearl began to laugh at how affectionate her friend was today. She found it rather endearing.

 

“Of course I’ll go with you,” Marina almost yelled in her enthusiasm. She pulled Pearl back into another hug.

 

“Great, it’s a date then,” Pearl teased, making the taller girl laugh.

 

Marina leaned back and pushed some hair out of her face.

 

“It’s a date.”

 

* * *

 

 

Pearl realised art exhibits weren’t really for her rather quickly.

 

The room was rather dark with the main sources of light positioned over various pieces of art. The art varied from paintings and sketches to full blown sculptures and carvings. It was all very pretty but looking at art got rather tiresome after a while - especially for someone with a short attention span like Pearl did.

 

Marina seemed to be enjoying herself, however, so she was willing to grin and bear it.

 

Despite being surrounded by beautiful pieces of artwork, Pearl kept looking back at Marina. Eventually her date noticed and looked down at her meeting her gaze. She looked away feeling her face warm slightly.

 

Marina began to laugh quietly, playfully pinching her cheek. “What are you doing staring at me for? We’re surrounded by art!”

 

Pearl smirked up at her. “Hard to concentrate on the art when I’ve got a masterpiece right in front of me,” she flirted shamelessly.

 

Now it was Marina’s time to blush and turn away though she could see her smiling. Pearl felt oddly proud of herself. Looking away from Marina temporarily, she made eye contact with Marie who was stood by a sculpture...accompanied by a girl with short blonde hair. Marie nodded and gave her a thumbs up before talking to her companion. She must have said something funny as next thing you know the girl seemed to be laughing.

 

Her focus was brought back to Marina when she felt a tap on her shoulder. Marina had turned back to face her though she was still blushing heavily. “I’m kind of done with this art exhibit,” Marina mumbled quietly. “Want to head back to my place?”

 

Pearl’s face flushed slightly but quirked an eyebrow anyway, intrigued by her girlfriend’s (it still felt strange saying that to herself) suggestion. “I certainly wouldn’t say no.”

 

The look in Marina’s eyes could only be described as pure mischief as she grabbed her hand and began dragging Pearl out of the museum. Pearl laughed at her girlfriend’s eagerness and soon Marina was laughing along with her. Their joint laughter echoed through the museum hall.

 

Turns out the art exhibit was exciting news after all.

  


**Author's Note:**

> Hi, it's me!
> 
> It's...been a while since I've posted anything here so, uh, here's something at long last.
> 
> Hopefully i'll be able to write more splatoon related stuff as i do love writing these characters so much! They're a lot of fun.
> 
> Also if you haven't seen it the new concert is really gay.
> 
> I will eventually maybe write some more human AU things so uh stay tuned for that.
> 
> Anyway thanks for reading, please leave a comment if you can as I love reading them!


End file.
